Who's with me on this...HOT SYRUP?!!!

OK maybe I'm a bit tetched in the head but coming from New England I never, ever, ever went to a breakfast place that heated its syrup before serving. Pity the poor Yankee who relocates to Kansas City, where if you ask for room-temperature syrup, your server will likely look at you as though you have a big wodge of spinach stuck between your teeth. Am I crazy? (Don't answer that, just talk amongst yerselves)

I assume we're talking maple syrup here. We serve it at room temperature at home as do all restaurants around here, but i don't know any reason why it might not be pretty tasty served heated... might try it next Sunday with the pancakes.

Actually the best maple syrup i ever had was served hot---right out of the sugering off pot in our garage,where we cooked down the sap from the trees in our driveway. My mom would send one of us out with a pitcher to to fill with syrup hot from the steaming pot. If we were REAL lucky we would get a late spring snow of light fluffy stuff about 3 inches deep and pour the syrup from the pot onto the snow---it would crystalize and we had the best candy in town---and one that i daresay MOST folks will nerver get to experiance. Hot or cold---real maple is hard to beat!

I'm a huge fan of heated maple syrup. Goes right into a little water bath while I'm making the pancakes.

My Dad and Grandpa started making syrup in the 40s in a big kettle. The family has carried on the tradition, and we still do it with buckets and a wood-fired evaporator. And I serve mine warm. Why?

Because pure maple needs to be refrigerated once it's open, or it can get moldy. Restaurants that go thru it fast can afford to serve it at room temp maybe, but if you go thru a quart a month at home, you gotta keep it cold, and then warm it up.

I don't know any other sappers who would look at you funny if you served it heated. Vive la difference!

I grew up with cold or room temperature syrup. Shortly after I got married, my wife fixed pancakes and wanting to impress me, heated the syrup. I diplomatically told her my preference. I didn't want a life time (we've been married 26 years now) of hot syrup, so I nipped it in the bud. She puts sugar on her pancakes.

Hot syrup just disappears in to the cakes. I like a puddle of cold syrup to dip each bite into.

Not much of a waffle or pancake eater any longer, but when do eat either, I prefer the maple syrup heated.

Just a sideline here. My father's family is British. The British are quite strict about savory vrs. sweet. Sweet is for desserts not for meals. When my parents were first married they were at the inlaws for breakfast and pancakes were on the menu. My mother put butter and syrup on her's as she aways did and my grandfather came unglued. This was not acceptable! The family ate their pancakes with butter only until the end of the meal and then they would put syrup on the last serving as dessert.

In an effort to fit in, my mother followed her inlaws tradition at the next breakfast, but then she decided, to hell with them and went back to having syrup on all of her pancakes. Grandfather got upset every time.

I think I fall onto the warm side. Steen's Pure Cane Syrup warm....mmmmmm.

I owned a breakfast/lunch restaurant in South Florida. I would serve the syrup (real maple syrup) at room temperature. Sometimes, customers wanted it heated, so just a couple of seconds in the microwave would do the trick.

Coming from N.Y., we were always served maple syrup at room temperature. But now it seems to be the thing to serve it warm. It's nice. I don't object.

I love hot syrup if it is served for breakfast at some restaurants. It just makes the pancakes taste so good! Cold or room temperature syrup don't really stand out.

mom always warmed the syrup for our pancakes and waffles in the morning before sending us off to school happy and full!

I don't care for pancakes or maple syrup, but warm sorghum mixed with butter and biscuits is a favorite of mine since childhood.

quote:

Originally posted by Lone Star

I don't care for pancakes or maple syrup, but warm sorghum mixed with butter and biscuits is a favorite of mine since childhood.

My goodness, Lone Star, you really ARE a "country gal" at heart! LOVE it!

Grpwing up back in the late 50's and early 60's I have fond recollections of pancakes and especially waffles which my mother always served with warm maple syrup.

Now more or less happily married, but my wife can't stand maple syrup!
Nowadays I mostly use maple syrup only on ice cream. Pretty good too!!

Wally

quote:

Originally posted by tiki

Actually the best maple syrup i ever had was served hot---right out of the sugering off pot in our garage,where we cooked down the sap from the trees in our driveway. My mom would send one of us out with a pitcher to to fill with syrup hot from the steaming pot. If we were REAL lucky we would get a late spring snow of light fluffy stuff about 3 inches deep and pour the syrup from the pot onto the snow---it would crystalize and we had the best candy in town---and one that i daresay MOST folks will nerver get to experiance. Hot or cold---real maple is hard to beat!

Growing up in the 1970s, I read (and watched) Little House on the Prairie. The first book, Little House in the Big Woods, takes place in Wisconsin, and they have a scene such as you describe. They had little pans of snow, and Ma would pour the hot syrup into the pans and it would make candy when it cooled.

Naturally, I was thrilled by the idea, and ran out into the snow with my bottle of Log Cabin pancake syrup, only to discover that it didn't quite work the same way if you're not actually cooking the stuff down. Just sorta gets absorbed by the snow. :P

I've always had it room temp, but warmed sounds interesting.

There's a fabulous breakfast buffet place west of Frederick, Maryland, not far from where they caught the D.C. snipers, actually. It's an historic house called the Old South Mountain Inn. (http://www.oldsouthmountaininn.com/) Their breakfast buffet is fabulous, but at one point I mentioned to the staff that it would be improved by the use of real maple syrup, rather than the plastic bottle of Aunt Jemima they've been using. Unfortunately, I don't think they took me seriously. I might suggest it again next time I go back, and suggest they heat it, too. They do have raspberry syrup to ladle up. Why couldn't they have a tub of real maple syrup, too? Hrmph.

I have made my own maple syrup when living in New England, its a tough chore but a lot of fun to finally get out of the house near the end of winter. I use maple syrup every day as my only sweetner for freshly made coffee, just use a teaspoon it gives the coffee a great flavor. I usually don't heat it but prefer to when I have the time. On Saturday and Sunday for pancakes I love maple syrup heated and poured over the melted butter on hot pancakes. Nothing better.

Living in New England, we also have real maple syrup. Trader Joe's seems to have the best price. We pour it into a small glass pitcher and microwave it for one minute. I haven't had cold maple syrup since moving up here over 30 years ago.

Simple formulas:

Cold, hard butter = Heated syrup

Warm, soft butter = No need to heat syrup

Math geek Phil B.

Whenever we have syrup, it's always real maple syrup and JaneDough always heats it. It's the best!

quote:

Originally posted by Lone Star

I don't care for pancakes or maple syrup, but warm sorghum mixed with butter and biscuits is a favorite of mine since childhood.

I am not a big syrup fan, but I can relate to this!

"Dippin' Sauce"

I like my pancakes and waffles and their poured toppings served hot. The butter, if used needs to be soft enough to melt easily on the cakes. While we are looking at these details...I prefer my pancakes small and thin (Silver Dollars) As opposed to the plate covering, Inch Thick variety.

My daughter in law's parents make maple syrup to sell so we always have the "real stuff" on hand. I do not believe that we have ever heated it.............with hot pancakes or french toast, it is wonderful right out of the fridge. We also enjoy maple sugar and maple butter...........there is nothing like pure maple products.

Growing up in Southern California, I never had the privilege of fresh maple syrup. But, as far as heating up the fake stuff goes, served cold or room temperature was the norm. However on those special occasions when you had time for a big feast of a breakfast, the hot syrup on the pancakes made it seem that much more special.

Emmmmmmmmmmmmmm, warm is good

LL

Count me in the warm syrup camp. In fact, when my friends come to stay in August and we break out the Sour Mash Bourbon Pancake Mix I'll definitely be warming up the syrup.

And the recipe for these cakes would be??????????
I'd love to try these. Please share.

Warm syrup. Trust me, it won't disappear. The flavor will all be there. I like my pancakes hot, and yes, the butter should be at room temp, too. Kerrygold, the Irish butter that's so affordable at Trader Joe's is delicious.

Pancake recipe? Try an older edition of "The Joy of Cooking" for buttermilk pancakes. Use about 15-30% more buttermilk than Mama Rombauer called for, and when she says cake flour, she ain't kidding. Sift the flour and other dry ingredients twice. Only combine with the wet when the griddle is hot. Only a few folding strokes, as overworking the batter only toughens them. This takes only seconds more than making pancakes from some mix, and everytrhing will be fresher. After this recipe, you will never buy boxed mixes again.

The best syrup I ever had was called something like Napa Valley Syrup. It was maple syrup mixed with brandy. It was a gift. The only time I found it in a store was when the local snob store (Oakville Grocery) was going out of business. It was ½ price, but still $6 for a small bottle, But YUMMMMMM.

Phil B.